Continuity in police plans, policies assured

WHAT can be expected now that P/Sr. Superintendent Ronald Lee is the province’s permanent provincial director of the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO)?

P/chief Inspector Norman Florentino, PPPO information officer and head of the community relations, said there is now full accountability over police operations and the power to replace, reassign and reshuffle police chiefs in the province can be done without need for permission from the regional office.

Florentino said the permanent appointment of Lee augurs well for the war on drugs in the province since continuity can already be expected over a period.

For the past six years, Pangasinan has had provincial directors in acting or officer-in-charge capacity only, with no one knowing when he would be replaced by another.

As of May 8, there are still 185 barangays from the 1,269 drug affected Barangays in the province that remain drug-affected.

Based on PPPO’s updated data, there are 21,162 identified drug personalities still to account, 179 of whom are high value targets.

So far, only the following have been declared drug-free but still await reassessment by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency: Alaminos City, Natividad, Agno, Laoac, Bolinao and San Nicolas.

Sto. Tomas is the only municipality unaffected by illegal drugs in the whole province. (Nora Dominguez)